1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a weather radar, and weather observation method configured to observe a weather phenomenon such as rain, cloud, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional weather radar of the parabolic antenna type, a pencil beam with sharp directivity is formed, the beam is rotated 360° in the horizontal direction to acquire observation data in one plane, and then the antenna elevation angle is increased stepwise to continue to acquire the next one plane data, thereby collecting three-dimensional precipitation data (see, for example, “Revised Radar Technique” supervised by Takashi Yoshida, Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, Oct. 1, 1996, first edition, “Chapter 9, Meteorological Radar”, pp. 239-240). In order to carry out this observation sequence, a time of about five to ten minutes is required, and hence temporal/spatial resolution sufficient for observation of a cumulonimbus cloud or the like changing every moment has not been obtained. Accordingly, in the weather radar using the conventional parabolic antenna, it has been difficult to detect an unexpected and local weather phenomenon such as abrupt development of a cumulonimbus cloud.